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Review: 'Extraordinary, Ordinary People' by Condoleezza Rice

Original post made
on Nov 8, 2010

One of the defining moments in former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's childhood came during a visit to Santa Claus when she was about 5 years old. Living in Birmingham, Ala., known as the most segregated big city in America in the 1950s and early 1960s, Rice almost didn't get a seat on Santa's lap because she is black, she wrote in her autobiography/homage to her parents, "Extraordinary, Ordinary People."

Posted by ten18
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Nov 8, 2010 at 8:45 am

It's so easy to "armchair quarterback" when you don't have a clue. I'm sure if you were in the same position, you would have handled the situation much better! I'll take my chances with GWB and Condoleeza, thanks.

Posted by A real patriot
a resident of Stanford
on Nov 8, 2010 at 8:55 am

"I'll take my chances with GWB and Condoleeza,"
You mean break our laws regarding treatment of prisoners? Disclose the identity of a CIA agent, thereby putting her contacts abroad at risk and put our country at risk.
It appears that Condi and Bush did not have a clue either. the good thing is that she destroyed any future career she had--she will spend the rest of her life, alone, at the Hoover Institute.

Posted by A real patriot
a resident of Stanford
on Nov 8, 2010 at 9:19 am

You call that a great interview--the interviewer sounds almost worshipful in her questions and the whole interview comes across as a fluff piece designed to make a former alumnus, who has fallen on hard times, look good.

Posted by Brian
a resident of Downtown North
on Nov 8, 2010 at 10:48 pm

On May 30, 2001, and on July 10, 2001 Condi got urgent warnings from CIA officials who were, in Richard Clarke's words, running around with their "hair on fire", of impending terrorist attacks. Richard Blee and George Tenet later agreed that had she acted on those warnings, 9/11 might have been prevented. Cofer Black said "We did everything but pull the trigger to the gun we were holding to her head."

Richard Clarke, the former counterterrorism chief, had the decency to apologize to the family members when he testified before the 9/11 Commission, saying "Your government failed you, those entrusted with protecting you failed you, and I failed you."

National Security Advisor Dr. Condoleezza Rice did not apologize. Instead she lied to the widows' faces when she told the 9/11 Commission that the "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US" memo was not a warning. It warned of preparations for hijackings and planned attacks inside the US.

Posted by Gary
a resident of Downtown North
on Nov 11, 2010 at 8:23 pm

"A flattering review of Rice's book only serves to draw attention away from her active participation in an illegal war that killed over 100,000 people"

andreas, are you talking about the Liberation of Iraq? If so, GWB and Condi will be seen very favorably by history. The leftists, especially including the European socialists, were completely wrong about this, if only on a moral basis. I sometimes wonder how lefties can look themselves in the mirror...they should at least lose sleep over their defense of tyranies.

I salute Condi for standing up for liberty. Stanford should be very proud of her.

Posted by Patrick Christofer Riley
a resident of another community
on Dec 3, 2010 at 9:05 am

Though I have serious policy differences with Dr.Rice, I am a huge fan of hers. Her determination, intelligence, beauty and commitment to improve the life of those least fortunate are simply admirable. And what I've read about her father, makes him a hero of mine. I'd love her to run for president (those Republicans who support Sarah Palin would do well--extremely--to convince Dr. Rice to seek the nomination. Dr. Rice would easily gain the nomination and more than likely become the first woman President of the United States. As someone who is not of fan of politics (and not a consistent voter; though I do vote for both parties), I'd vote for her.

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